The watch that paid for my dinner

We turned back time to bring you this vintage-inspired classic

In between courses at London’s Le Gavroche, Irolled back my sleeve to check the time. My British friend across the table took immediate notice of my Stauer Classique Watch.

A self-described connoisseur of “the finer things,” he seemed genuinely surprised that a Yank like me actually had a sense of style. “I’ll bet you dinner that you can’t guess— within $1,000— how much I paid for it,” I told him. Each of his guesses was over $5,000. He was stunned when I delivered the bad news.

Time for a change. Iused to buy all of my watches at auction. Then the rooms started getting crowded and the winning bids shot through the roof. It took me losing a lot of great finds to people with deeper pockets to realize something important: a great timepiece doesn’t have to cost a fortune.

That was the philosophy that led me to create Stauer. Today it’s our mantra. We’ve proved it before and we’ve done it again with the spectacular Stauer Classique. Inspired by a rare watch that caught my eye in a London museum, the Classique
combines the look of a vintage treasure with the precise workings of a modern electric movement for an absolutely unbelievable price.

They don’t make things like they used to. But we do. Our passion is for rescuing great watches forgotten by history. We find a timeless style and recreate it piece-by-piece, down to the most exacting detail. The Classique features a classic face with guilloche styling and genuine leather strap. It was a look that once could only be found under glass in a collector’s trophy room. Today, it can be on your wrist.